‘Create social business to help society in sustainable way’
You can use your business acumen and business experience by creating a separate business to create social business. Use your capacity where your aim is not to make money but to solve problems.
Professor Muhammad Yunus
Businesses in this country can adopt social business to help solve problems that arise within the society and community so as to give back to the people in a more sustainable manner.
Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, who is regarded as the ‘father of social business’, said while giving donations, setting up charities and creating foundations were the norms in the past, the option of doing social business is now practised by many individuals and organisations.
“You can use your business acumen and business experience by creating a separate business to create social business. Use your capacity where your aim is not to make money but to solve problems.
“And when the business makes a profit, it is plowed back into the business itself,” he told reporters after speaking at the Green Social Business Dialogue.
The event was organised by the Youth Trust Foundation (MyHarapan) in partnership with the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC).
Muhammad explained that in social business, resources could come from anywhere, including creative power, talent, and funds, but the purpose must not be making money for oneself but solving problems in communities.
He said that because social business is an option, it is better not to wait for the government to come out with policies or statements as the effort from individuals, or collaboration with friends and employees will enable work to be done faster without bureaucracy.
MGTC chief executive officer Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, in a panel sharing session, said among its ongoing efforts to attract fresh ideas among youths is through its Jana Graduan Usahawan Hijau (JaGUH) programme.
The programme helps MGTC to identify and guide young social entrepreneurs to develop sustainable solutions through various ideas.
MGTC has also initiated the Bandar Rendah Karbon dan Rumah Ibadat Hijau programme, where a government agency provides facilities in infrastructure, and provides professional advice and incentives or grants in efforts to reduce 45 per cent of greenhouse emissions by 2030.
At the event, Muhammad also witnessed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between MGTC and several institutions and companies to address the issue of poverty, unemployment, and net carbon emissions through sustainable social business. — Bernama